A WOMAN who was rushed to hospital in Cardiff for a transplant, only for the operation to be cancelled at the last minute, has made a heart-felt appeal for people to carry donor cards.

Elliw Llwyd Owen, 32, from Ffrwd Cae Du, has needed a kidney and pancreas transplant for the last two years, after tests at a diabetic clinic revealed problems.

Three weeks ago a phone call provided some hope that a match had been found, but further tests proved the organs were not suitable.

Then last Monday her hopes were raised again.

Doctors were certain they had found a good match.

Elliw had to go to Ysbyty Gwynedd for dialysis, before making the emergency dash to Cardiff.

She said: "A helicopter was going to take me from Ysbyty Gwynedd to Cardiff, but the weather was too severe, so it stopped in Aberporth, outside Aberystwyth, and rapid response took me to Cardiff.

"They had prepared me for a long wait, but when I got there they said I was going to theatre in an hour.

"I was about to change into my gown when they told me the operation was off.

"The doctors had found a tumour in the kidney and a further biopsy found various tumours within the tumour. I couldn’t have the pancreas on its own.

"It was a bombshell. It was such a rollercoaster, then to fall flat on my face."

Despite the bad news, Elliw remains positive.

"It wasn’t to be. If I had had the operation, and had the kidney, my chance of survival would have been pretty grim.

"I’ve just got to concentrate on going forwards."

Elliw, who works part-time at the special needs unit at Ysgol Syr Hugh Owen, has had to return to having dialysis three times a week for four hours.

This month, the Organ Donation Taskforce advised the government to reject plans for a new system of presumed consent organ donation, which would make people automatic organ donors unless they opted-out.

While Elliw understands people’s reservations about the opt-out system, she said more needs to be done.

"If people feel so strongly about not donating they should carry a card with them saying they don’t want to.

"It’s a person’s choice, but it doesn’t change the fact that the situation is bad.

"It is difficult when a loved one is about to die and someone asks you if you want to donate the organs. It is a lot to take in, and I can understand that fully.